The Manavon Messenger

October 6: Pink Out

October 18: HSA Meeting, Zoom, @ 7 pm

October 20: Half Day for Students

November 3: Fall Parties

November 3: End of Marking Period 1

Congratulations to all of our Manavon Phantoms who received recognition for our character traits of the month: Respect and Responsibility. Although, all our students demonstrate two of our three B's, this month's recipients go above and beyond to demonstrate respect and responsibility.

The spotlight for this week is Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Lin-Manuel Miranda developed a devotion to musical theater and hip-hop before attending Wesleyan University. He wrote and starred in the Tony-winning 2008 musical In the Heights before working on additional Broadway productions and making screen appearances. Inspired by reading Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda eventually developed the musical Hamilton, a groundbreaking work that tells the story of the U.S. Founding Father with hip-hop/R&B musical forms and a Black and Latino cast. With Miranda in the titular role, the production was a phenomenal success commercially and critically, winning the Pulitzer Prize and 11 Tony Awards in 2016. Miranda also scored a Grammy Award and an Oscar nomination for composing the song "How Far I'll Go" from the 2016 animated film Moana and starred in 2018's Mary Poppins Returns.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also called AOC

American politician and activist who began representing New York’s 14th congressional district (NY-14) in 2019. Taking office at the age of 29, she became the youngest woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. Ocasio-Cortez identifies as a democratic socialist and is known for her progressive politics and for her skillful use of social media to connect with young voters.

Manavon Elementary School is sponsoring a Best Buddies Friendship Program for students in fifth grade. The club will be meeting during the school day for at least 30 minutes a month for the remainder of the school year. This once a month club meeting will take place during the fifth grade recess time. Please see the informational on the permission slips linked below for more details about club meetings and about the Best Buddies organization.

We are looking forward to building an inclusive and accepting school community with your child!

Students in Mr. Paparone's STEM class were assigned to random groups where they then had to work together to find things that everyone in the group had in common. Whatever it was they had in common was then written on an index card and the idea was the more things that they were able to find in common between everyone, they more index cards they would have. They were then able to use the index cards to work together to build a tower. The hope was that the more effort they put into finding commonalities between each other, the more building materials they would have and the higher the tower would be.

Please remind your children cell phones and smart watches need to be away in backpacks and in lockers during the school day. Hats may not be worn during school unless we have a spirit day. Although hoodies are permitted, students should not have their hoods up while in the building.

On Oct. 4 PASD is hosting its first parent speaker series titled “Mock Teen Bedroom and Parenting on Your Feet -- Tools for Talking with Teens.” In order to spread the word, please advertise the event in your next newsletter. You can use this link to the website Be a Part of the Conversation - Phoenixville Area School District (pasd.com)

Effective on Tuesday, we are implementing a new procedure to help increase safety and efficiency of the drop off process. We strongly recommend that families use the car line. If you must park, please pull into an empty parking spot in the lot. You will then escort your child down the center sidewalk to the crosswalk. Please do not stop to drop off your student without pulling into a spot. You will then exit the parking lot in the same way you entered. Barricades will be in place to restrict access to the front part of the lot. As emphasized over the past few weeks, only families with special needs or extenuating circumstances will be permitted to access the limited visitor parking spots. We will be giving placards to families with a known/documented need. If you have been given a placard, please stay in the left side of the carline and a staff member will guide you to a visitor’s spot.

We would like to remind our car driving families to be calm and courteous when using the car line for both drop off and pick up. Over the past week, we have seen an increase in negative and unsafe interactions in the front parking lot between drivers. The safety of our students is of the upmost importance, and we need all drivers to follow the procedures of the car line to ensure students' safety. We hope that everyone will try harder to lead with grace and be safer, more appropriate role models for all of our students while dropping and picking up our children. Thank you for your cooperation and support in ensuring the safety of everyone.

Each year, we hope to update and replenish our recess games and equipment. Please see Manavon's recess equipment wish list below. The links will take you to Amazon, where you can purchase the items and either drop them off to school or send them directly to the building:

Manavon Elementary School

2 Phantom Way, Phoenixville, PA 19460.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

https://a.co/d/ciMLqH1

https://a.co/d/7G0RxwR

https://a.co/d/bDgsGXM

https://a.co/d/akQYsC0

https://a.co/d/ai3ziJ5

https://a.co/d/gS4lO9G

https://a.co/d/ctwKwsY

https://a.co/d/d1Bg3Te

https://a.co/d/4hljjHl

As we prepare for another year of in-person events and activities, we will need parent volunteers. All volunteers will need to be board approved. Please click here to register for board approval. We are planning trips and activities beginning in the fall and look forward to welcoming parent volunteers.

We are excited to introduce you to the latest updates and improvements to our elementary report card. At PASD, we are committed to fostering a supportive and transparent learning environment, and these changes have been carefully designed with your valuable feedback and the best interests of our students in mind. With this user guide, we aim to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the revisions to the elementary report card, empowering you to better understand your child's academic progress and celebrate their achievements. We believe these enhancements will further strengthen the partnership between home and school, ensuring that together, we can nurture every student's growth and success. Click below to access the User Guides.

Due to the many students with allergies and food reactions food items to celebrate student birthdays are not permitted. We are requesting that all birthday recognitions be non-food based. We do want to acknowledge student birthdays but encourage families to do so in other ways. For example, small items such as pencils or stickers for classmates or the donation of a book to the school or classroom library in honor of a child’s birthday would be appropriate. Thank you for honoring and respecting this request.

Holiday celebrations will be held in compliance with School Board Policy #246 Student Wellness. The policy states “The district recognizes that classroom parties and celebrations are a tradition at school. School staff and parents/guardians are encouraged to include healthy food offerings, as defined in this policy, at school parties and events to support a healthy environment throughout the district.” Policy 246 can be viewed in its entirety by visiting the district’s website.

Holiday celebrations and end-of-year classroom celebrations will be announced in advance for parents to be prepared in determining food choices with their children. Birthday celebrations are held randomly and do not allow for parent awareness prior to the event in the school setting, which contributed to the decision for birthday recognitions to be non-food based.

After school clubs and activities will not start until October. Keep an eye out for more information about the clubs listed below and others as we start the school year.

Principal: Dr. Nikki Celotto

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Natalie Hrynko

Secretary: Mrs. Becky Sinapius

Clerk: Mrs. Karen Martz

Email: celotton@pasd.com
Website: https://mes.pasd.com/
Location: 2 Phantom Way, Phoenixville, PA, USA
Phone: (484) 927-5350
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PASDmanavon
Twitter: @PASDSchools